India, Sept. 13 -- Kazakhstan's Elina Bazarova was pounding Preeti Pawar. The opening round of her first bout at the Senior Asian Championships had thrown Preeti into deep waters. She missed more than connecting while the quick-footed Elina landed blow after blow to take the first round 5-0 in the bantamweight fight.

Boxing can be cruel. The hard blows numb the minds of boxers, make their feet unsteady and toss the gameplan out of the ring. The instruction from the coach's corner was either take the second round to have any chance, or she would be packed off.

Preeti not only took the second round, she was so dominant that one of the judges gave a 10-8 card. In the third round, the southpaw kept up the pressure, bailing herself out of ja...